The irony of the phobia is great! I shy away from large, often not used words, since I write YA, but I've also heard that adult readers get irritated if they have to look up the meaning of too many words, and often put the book down when the frustration builds.

the longest word in the OED is floccinaucinihilipilification. i've considered putting it in an essay as a joke, but you're right that in english overly long words tend to distract the reader. the germans don't seem to have this hang-up though.

Sometimes the only word I can think of is the long one, which isn't so bad with the writing, but stinks in everyday conversation. I can edit the writing before it touches other human beings, but once it's out of my mouth, no matter how strange the looks, I can't take it back.

Sigh. Long words are my default, actually. When I'm tired or am not focusing, I tend to use longer or more jargonny words because I find them more parsimonious. The downside: people's eyes glaze over. So I guess I probably don't have this phobia. Perhaps I should try to acquire it.

Long words can be so fun to write, but not so fun to read! Darn. I'm on a search for a better vocabulary in writing, though: fewer (and yes, shorter) words to convey meaning, but not necessarily simple ones.

These sorts of words turn invisible for me, i skip them when reading - if it appears again I can recognise it as the word from before but I won't bother trying to pronounce it in my head. I'm the same with vowel free names in sci-fi and fantasy stories. And the whole of the German language.

I have been told many times by my editor that I use too many long words. I consciously avoid that especially when I write for children. In my articles and features for the newspapers, I go berserk with the long words.

I love long words. I love obscure words. I love words that used to be part of everyday language and aren't anymore. I'm a language nut.

But I try not to use too many of any of the above in my writing, for fear of off-putting the readers. Although I do find that words I think are perfectly normal sometimes leave people scratching their heads (who knew "largess" was such an unusual word? I thought everyone knew what that meant!), so it's a good thing I have beta readers who are less word-nerdy than I.

Thanks for your visit, also comment, I got my pics mixed up what should have been a scene of somewhere between Toronto and Philadephia turned out as you mentioned NY. NY is my next stop so must have clicked on the wrong pic, thanks for pointing it out,.That was a long journey that day.

I figured they were some medical terms! :) I prefer not to use complicated words when I write. I figure I want people to follow easily, and if it's not something I think most readers would know, I skip it.

Quite the opposite, actually. I have a bad habit of using long words in conversation and in my writing. Friends used to tell me that conversations with me improved their vocabulary. Now they probably just call me annoying behind my back (but that's another pathology - LOL).

Quite the opposite, actually. I have a bad habit of using long words in conversation and in my writing. Friends used to tell me that conversations with me improved their vocabulary. Now they probably just call me annoying behind my back (but that's another pathology - LOL).

I was actually talking with a friend today about the fact that I appreciate authors like Brandon Mull who uses big words in his middle grade fiction. I think when kids can subconsciously figure out the meaning through context it aids their vocabulary and I like when authors challenge kids that way.

That being said, I don't think sesquipedaliophobia is going to be entering my vocabulary anytime soon!

They do sound like a rash should be involved. I admit, though, when I see REALLY long words like hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia I stop reading about five letters in. So now whenever I see the word hippo I might get scared of long words. :)

hi Lydia! LOL I love this post. I follow one rule in my writing: If I can't read it, I can't pronounce it. If I can't pronounce it, I won't remember the word so I can't write it. So I don't go for complicated words. But I do consult the thesaurus to use better words :) Thanks for sharing! :)

I find that in my writing, I often use words that I NEVER use in my speaking. Sometimes, I even have to look them up to make sure the context is correct. It's interesting -- apparently, I have two sets of vocabulary. One is audio and the other is visual.

That's ridiculous to make such a long word about having a fear of long words. How will the person with the fear be able to say the name of their disease? Unless that's the treatment - say the name and get over the fear!

Since I write for YA and MG I try to keep my writing simple and stay true to what my characters would say. Why use a big complicated word when a small one would do just as nicely? Although in real life I have a fondness of finding new words (the more antiquated the better) and using them to the utter confusion of my family :)

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